WHO AM I?

My dad and I were visiting Universal Studios back in ~‘76 when they didnt have a theme park, it was mostly a tour of the working studio. There was a crashed Stutz Blackhawk at the entry gate. We walked over to check it out and we met the owner Evel Kinevel. Seems a guy had talked an assistant into giving up the keys…

He wasnt removing parts to use in other cars in the fleet, he was installing new parts on the cars before they sold them @ auction.

He didn’t know who required the work to be performed (company or govt) , just that the work needed to be performed before the vehicle could be sold @ auction.  

Not a clue. The whole thing made little sense to me, but I do know it was done.  I saw some pictures from the yard.  He did what he was told.

Not the specific “rental theft” referred to in this article, but my son is a mechanic for the company in question and told me the other day that he had a field trip to a local salvage auction yard to perform recall “repairs” for cars before they could be sold. Several of those were replacing door latches on Mustang…

Chocolate Traiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin

Injunction against honking in downtown Ottawa...

Yep, seen what they’ve become in some states so I totally agree. I think a very simple check could be done without disassembling anything and it could be done during the smog test. Forget opening the hood to make sure each and everything is where it is supposed to be. If its really broken, its gonna fail the test and…

Yeah, it’s kinda idiotic isnt it? Prior to moving to CA in 1993, I worked in Seattle at a shop and they had just started emission testing - performed by the state. If the car failed the tailpipe test, you could receive a waiver by spending $75 on parts. We were right down the street from the test facility and would…

You’re not entirely wrong. You can change the engine to one that was originally available in the same year make/model vehicle as an option WITHOUT having to go through the referee process. Same rule applies - that all of the applicable components must be installed.

I’d be that quadrajet is doing all it can to make that thing appear to be rolling coal... 

Same or newer, yeah.  

Smog check guy here. Nope, you dont have to keep the same manufacturer. You do have to keep the same class - that is you cannot put an engine certified for a truck into a car. This being a 1977 light truck, any 1977 model year or newer light truck engine could be certified - as long as all the associated emissions…

Yup.  These arent nearly as common in the yards anymore. When they do show up they are scavenged quicker than an errant gazelle that wanders into an alligator pit.

I have to kind of laugh at the comments of “just go to pick a part and get another bed” and “if the engine is toast, just go and get another”

I had the doppleganger for this van (only difference was mine was the slushbox) back in the late 90's. There was an intersection near our house that was two lanes merging into one just past the light. We would often find ourselves at the front of the line with a vehicle sitting to the right of us planning to holeshot…

No shit.  First trip to Bangalore, 2 minutes out of the airport we passed a horrible pedestrian vs truck accident.  Not the last one I saw that trip.

Lot lizard.